George, best known for her role as Nurse Trixie in the BBC show Call the Midwife, is swapping the streets of Poplar for the waters in a new ITV show.
The actress will be appearing alongside Lucy Punch, Sir Lenny Henry, Ross Noble, Rachel Riley, Ade Adepitan and Dougie Poynter in the ITV1 show, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters.
The show will see the celebrities try and undo the damage created by the 1975 movie, Jaws, as the stars get personal with sharks.
The celebrities will be in diving cages while bull sharks swim around them, and they’ll interact with hammerheads and stingrays.
Ahead of the show’s release, George spoke to Radio Times about the experience she described as “terrifying”.
Helen George discusses new ‘terrifying’ TV role
Speaking to Radio Times, George said she signed up for the show to help her daughters be less scared of sharks, sharing: “I wanted to get more confident for them.
“They were impressed I even went in the first place, because they didn’t think I would.
“I was really terrified of the water, so I might be a bit embarrassed about some of the scenes!
“I’m an actress and I play other people’s vulnerabilities, so playing my own is always terrifying.
“I’m ugly crying, there’s no hair and make-up… it’s not glamorous.
“Now I’m thinking, ‘What have I done?’ I haven’t been ‘myself’ on screen since I did Strictly [in 2015], and that was uncomfortable for me.”
The ITV1 show says the celebs stay in the Bahamas for three weeks and spend up to eight hours in wetsuits on dive boats every day looking for sharks.
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As George added: “Your skin’s rough as hell from all the sea water.
“You’re just fighting against it and trying not to look rubbish for the camera at the same time.”
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters starts on Monday, July 14 at 9pm on ITV1.
